1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to the field of tools utilized for the construction of buildings and in particular to layout apparatus for assisting in the installation of towel bars, sanitary paper holders, soap dishes and toothbrush holders.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Construction personnel continually encounter location, positioning and aligning problems prior to and during the installation of towel bars, sanitary paper holders, soap dishes and toothbrush holders on vertical walls in the rest rooms of buildings under construction. Typically, in the past, such construction personnel would use a carpenter's level, a tape measure and a pencil to fix the desired aligned location of such devices. The procedure generally used would be to ascertain on which wall the devices are to be installed. Having made this determination, the horizontal and vertical locations must then be fixed. This is usually accomplished with the aid of a tape measure. For example, the worker would measure a horizontal distance from a wall ending, or from a door opening, or from the wall's intersection with another wall. Of course, in fixing the horizontal location, the length of the towel bar must be accounted for. If the worker knows the center location, he must account for one-half the length of the towel bar in fixing the distance from the end of the towel bar to the reference location. The necessity for a construction worker to account for such factors often results in the towel bar being installed at an incorrect location. Similar considerations govern the installation of a paper holder, a soap dish and a toothbrush holder although any resulting errors would not be as obvious because of the shorter horizontal length of these items. Even if the construction plans specifically call for an end location of a towel bar, errors can and often do result because of installing the wrong end of the towel bar at such location.
There is understandably less chance for error in fixing the horizontal location of the towel bar because of the relative ease in measuring up from the floor to the desired horizontal height. However, if an error is made, it would not be apparent to the construction worker because of the lack of a visual aid. For instance, if a drawing called for a vertical distance above the floor of thirty-eight inches, the worker might mistakenly mark off a distance of say thirty-seven or thirty-nine inches. The inch mistake would not be obvious or readily apparent because all the worker would see would be a pencil mark on the wall. Once the bar is installed, however, a mistake of even one inch would be apparent to a reasonably skilled worker having ordinary experience because of the visual effect of the installed bar. Such visual effect would also be instrumental in noting a mistake in the vertical location of the bar. Unfortunately, the visual effect would only be apparent or observable after the bar is installed. If the mistake is discovered after tile is installed, the problem is compounded.
Another problem encountered in the prior art is associated with the horizontal levelness of the towel bar, soap dish, sanitary paper holder and the toothbrush holder. Towel bars and the other devices should, of course, be installed such that they are horizontally plumb. This necessitates the use of a level or other appropriate device which often is simultaneously manipulated with the aforementioned tape measure. Typically, the worker will hold the level against the wall with one hand while measuring the vertical distance with an extended tape measure held by the other hand. Then, while still holding the level against the wall, he will remove the tape measure, allow it to rewind, pocket the tape measure, grasp a pencil and mark the wall along the length of the level. Hopefully, the marked line will be horizontally plumb and at the correct vertical height. Should the level slip during the measuring stage, an error will result. A conscientious worker should remeasure the levelness of the marked line and should remeasure its horizontal distance. More often than not, such remeasurements are not made and any error will go undetected until after the devices are completely installed. Unless the error or errors are corrected, a less than satisfactory job results.
Still another problem associated with the prior art involves the steps in going from the horizontally marked line to the outline for the towel bar mounting brackets. This includes the location of the holes for the mounting screws as well as the distance between the brackets and the proper marking of the size of the mounting brackets. Such marking must be made in relation to the horizontally marked line, and necessarily involves the inclusion of additional errors of location, or at least the possibility of additional errors.
The preparation for and the installation of both a toothbrush holder and soap dishes, which are usually mounted along the same horizontal surface above a sink but at opposite ends thereof, involve very similar problems as those stated for a towel bar.
Included within the above-stated problems in the prior art is the necessity of the worker to handle a number of different devices in order to accomplish a desired end result. Separate devices which require simultaneous handling are simply inconvenient. There is always the possibility that the worker forgets to bring one of the devices with him. An unnecessary, time consuming trip is then required to obtain the missing device and return to the work site. The further away the work site, the more the resulting inconvenience. For instance, if the worker is involved in the construction of a highrise building, having to return to the ground level to get a pencil or to merely sharpen the pencil is quite inconvenient, unproductive, and a waste of expensive manpower.
Thus, there exists a need to provide apparatus which overcomes the problems associated with presently known prior art devices which are used to aid in the installation of towel bars, sanitary paper holders, soap dishes and toothbrush holders during the construction of new buildings or during the remodeling of or additions to existing buildings.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide layout apparatus which allows for accurately positioning of a towel bar, a sanitary paper holder, a soap dish and a toothbrush holder during building construction.
Another object of the present invention is to provide layout apparatus which in combination includes vertical and horizontal measuring capabilities, level setting capabilities, and bracket and mounting screw template capabilities for aiding in the installation of a towel bar, a sanitary paper holder, a soap dish or a toothbrush holder.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide apparatus for aiding in the installation of a towel bar, a sanitary paper holder, a soap dish or a toothbrush holder which allows for visual determination of the correctness of the desired installed location of the same.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide layout apparatus for aiding in the installation of bathroom apparatus which includes means for aiding in the installation of different lengths of towel bars and different distances between a soap dish and a toothbrush holder.
A further object of the present invention is to provide towel bar, sanitary paper holder, soap dish or toothbrush holder layout apparatus in a single tool which is inexpensive, simply constructed, and capable of withstanding construction site environments.